| Salt Lake City |
 |
 |
| GER |
12 |
16 |
7 |
35 |
 |
| USA |
10 |
13 |
11 |
34 |
|
| NOR |
11 |
7 |
6 |
24 |
|
| CAN |
6 |
3 |
8 |
17 |
|
| RUS |
6 |
6 |
4 |
16 |
|
| AUT |
2 |
4 |
10 |
16 |
|
| ITA |
4 |
4 |
4 |
12 |
|
| FRA |
4 |
5 |
2 |
11 |
|
| SUI |
3 |
2 |
6 |
11 |
|
| NED |
3 |
5 |
0 |
8 |
|
|
|
|
Study judges figure skating judges
Ed Yeates
KSL-TV
Dr. Kelley Lockwood from Brock University, in Canada, is looking at consistencies or inconsistencies in how judges award points. But she has been doing that with another objective in mind. Ed Yeates reports from the Delta Center.
Dr. Lockwood is actually trying to help athletes and coaches focus on what judges really want. But in so doing, her research is disecting the judging process.
Out of all Olympic sports, figure skating perhaps has gone through the greatest evolution - some call it a revolution.
It was never known originally for jumping. But now skaters jump and twist in triples and quads all over the place.
But what happens when every competitor does it well?
"Will the physiology of the body allow them to do greater, or are we going to have to take a step back and again develop the global skater, as opposed to just the mere good jumper?" asks Dr. Lockwood.
This is what Dr. Lockwood really wants to know. But in gathering data she's focusing on the judging process.
That means the way judges in the Salt Lake Games reach their decisions will come under scrutiny. Their technical deductions are being anonymously recorded and analyzed.
"We will then take the feeds that the judges see of the performances and send them out to judges around the world.," Dr. Lockwood explains. "So we're looking at judges of all different calibers. You're being judge all the way through to your ISU judge, and judges of different countries, and ask them to evaluate the same performances."
Lockwood is looking for what she calls a level of agreement among judges - consistencies which both coaches and athletes, down the road, can depend on.
"The judges, the coaches and the athletes all have to be on the same playing field. If the coaches and athletes are preparing one thing, but the judges are expecting something else, we have a problem," Lockwood says.
That's not exactly the same problem the Canadians faced Monday. But the results of the study most likely will highlight what has made this event so controversial for so many years.
"Whether or not European versus non-European judges have a different focus. Whether judges at different levels key in on different aspects of the performance," Lockwood says.
Are points awarded in a consistent and fair manner during competition? Did it happen in the Salt Lake games?
Even though that was not the original intent, this and more will certainly will be evident in Lockwood's study.
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February 15, 2002
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